BPS 155: From Indie Film To Surviving Hollywood with Albert Hughes

I can't be more excited about the conversation I'm about to share
with you. Today on the show we have filmmaker and indie film legend
Albert Hughes. Albert, along with his brother Allen began
making movies at age 12, but their formal film education began
their freshman year of high school when Allen took a TV production
class. They soon made the short film The Drive-By and people
began to take notice.

After high school Albert began taking classes at LACC Film School:
two shorts established the twins' reputation as innovative
filmmakers. Albert and his brother then began directing music
videos for a little-known rapper named Tupac Shakur. 

These videos lead to directing their breakout hit Menace II
Society (1993), which made its world premiere at the Cannes
Film Festival and grossed nearly 10 times as much as its $3 million
budget.

Albert followed up that success with Dead
Presidents (1995).

On the streets, they call cash dead presidents. And that's just
what a Vietnam veteran (Larenz Tate) is after when he returns home
from the war only to find himself drawn into a life of crime. With
the aid of his fellow vets, he plans the ultimate heist -- a daring
robbery of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency!

Albert continued displaying his highly stylized and visual
filmmaking with From Hell (2001) starring Johnny Depp and The
Book of Eli (2010) starring Oscar winners Denzel Washington
and Gary Olman.

The Book of Eli has the distinction of being the first studio
feature film shot on the RED Camera. In the example below, you can
see how Albert pushed the camera to its limits with the
ground-breaking color grade he gave the film.

Most recently Albert brought to the screen the epic film Alpha
(2018). The project was shot on the Arri ALEXA 65 for a truly
larger-than-life experience.

An epic coming-of-age adventure set in the last Ice Age. A young
boy becomes unlikely allies with a lone wolf, enduring countless
dangers and overwhelming odds to survive the harsh wilderness and
find their way home before the deadly winter arrives.

My conversation with Albert was EPIC. We began the episode aiming
for our standard 60-90 min run time but we were having such a good
time talking shop we just kept going. The final episode clocks in
around 3 hours and it was, by far, one of the best times I have
ever had on the Indie Film Hustle Podcast.

Two filmmakers talking shop and telling stories. We discuss his
public beef with Tupac, his rise after the breakout success of
Menace II Society, how he navigated the shark-infested waters of
Hollywood, working on big-budget studio films, his creative process
and Albert even throws in a story about how he stood up to Harvey
Weinstein while the disgusting predator was still a power-player in
the business.

Do yourself a favor and listen to the entire episode. There are
knowledge bombs drop throughout!

Enjoy my EPIC conversation with Albert Hughes.

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